Have to excuse me but a little worse for wear after a night at the Rock Cafe in Stourbridge (picture an abbotoir but worse.......), but having done my 54th Fall gig (and met some fallneters for the first time, cheers fall fan dave and the others), I do have to say it was one of those gigs that you think will be shite and then tunrs into something special.......

I went with my mate who I've seen the fall with twice (Ritz Dec '88, Mancester Uni '93), and I have to say......... fuck me!

4 encores (touch sensitive, f'oldin money, etc..........), and an audience that at first werent up for it or interested and then were made to work for their money and by the end were so f*ckin up for it that MES wouldn't let us go...

Oh yeah, and I got to sing Dr Bucks Letter courtesy of MES, happy days....

Anyway, set list to follow from someone less battered, but top gig all round.

Fig and Raff. :applaud: :rollover: :cry2:

:applaud: :applaud: :applaud: :applaud:


GREAT GIG, four or was it five encores ? My other half was blown away with Ben's harmonic gaffs on a few of the tracks (he knows, donchya Ben !!)

Beer Scooter has got the setlist, POST IT !!

My first post....and I'm the first to post (I think !)

Go on, give us some clues what they played ?

How many on stage this time ?

How was MES ?

What was Eleni wearing :wub: ?

i''ll let the more hardend fall fans suuply you with the setlist....from what I remember, Contraflow, Mountain Energei, Sparta, Touch Sensitive, Mr Pharmacist, Pseud Mag Ed....oooh loads...too p****d to remember Sorry !!

Mark E was confident (or is that cocky !!) faced the crowd all the way through. All encores done from the top of the stairs, out of view.

Eleni was wearing a black dress.

We require and would appreciate more detail, please. :ohdear:

She looked resplendent ok !

Oh, and there were 7 on stange, until the Broker disappeared after 2nd or 3rd track.

......at least, I think it was The Broker ?????

sorry I meant to say "On stage" A bit of :ohdear: a Freudian slip there, I reckon !

Cool-looks hopeful for another 27 years!. Appreciate the reviews for those of us here in australia.

MES was on great form, but I thought the band was a bit undercooked meself. Wrong Place Right Time, in particular, was dreadful. Spoilt Victorian Child was pretty bad too. There was a nice new discoey one, and a new rockabilly one that I didn't recognise. Ben was acting as band director - dread to think what it would have been like without him to be honest.

But the main set certainly didn't deserve five encores.

MES: 10/10
Band: 5/10

Fantastic gig (although I find it impossible to be objective about the Fall – they could play the worst gig in history and I’d still think it was fantastic), the sound was kind of muffled and suffered from quite of feedback, but I think that was more down to the acoustics of the venue rather then the band.

Having said that the current line up is a much looser, ‘Big Crashing Beat’ affair than the previous line up. Spencer Birtwhistle is a very different type of drummer to Dave Milner - Spencer goes in for lots of pounding floor toms. With the addition of Jim Watt’s second electric guitar (Ed Blaney played first two numbers on totally inaudible acoustic guitar, then, sensing that he was wasting his time, retired to the dressing room), and the fact that this was the first gig I’d been to where Elini’s synth was actually audible, then you can understand that this band has much fuller sound than the previous line up.

Physically, MES looked to be back in good shape (although he struggled with the stairs down from the dressing room to the stage, and did most of the encores standing in the dressing room door). He even took his glove off after a few numbers…

The set included (from memory here – sure to be the wrong order and have doubtless missed some out):

New song
Contraflow
New song
Boxoctosis (arrangement quite different from album version, stripped down, no backing vocals)
Green Eyed Loco Man
Sparta FC
Mountain Energei
Mere Pseud Mag Ed
Mr Pharmacist (inevitably enough!)
Wrong Place, Right Time

Encores (lot’s of em!)

Spoilt Victorian Child
Dr Buck’s Letter
Bourgeois Town
F-oldin Money
Touch Sensitive

A journey eastwards to see the new old line-up, and I have to say it was worth the effort. I thought the band played a great set, a two guitar line-up has made a big difference. I liked Spencer's drumming. Edmund played an inaudible accoustic on the first 3 or 4 songs. The new songs sounded great, I hope they get to record them. The most remarkable part was the amount of encores, must of been about half a dozen, with Mark mostly standing in the wings, although he did wander down the stage-door steps for a brilliant Dr Bucks and Touch Sensitive.
The venue was okay, despite the bizarre location. Sound quality was good, despite the feed-back. The audience, mostly male and of a certain age, didn't really come alive til the end.
I hope this current line-up stay together, but I think I said that last time.....

It was a pleasure to attend this gig in the company of fiery jack, dave love, athlete not cured, mark and fallfandave :)

quite agree Wrong Place & Victorian Child were poor but really enjoyed the gig.

Loved the new one (set - opener) Shipman. "Shipman, what about us" or something like that.

i thought the bass wasnt loud enough in parts and elani's vocal was very quite in Sparta - am i being pedantic?

Did you see Mark do his little shimmy in one of the encores? Classic moves

I thought the new member fitted in really well. You know the one with the red t-shirt with Security written on it. he was sat with ben all nite. He looked like he'd been in the fall since dragnet.

Cracking venue too.

Big shout out to fallfandave, athlete, mattthew and dave love who i met there :applaud:

most of all, thanks to mark for giving us a lift. hope you got back ok. :applaud: :applaud:

was very, very drunk on my return home, which is always a sign of a good fall nite out.

dear all,

the venue looked a bit grotty on the outside but was a wide open space with a plush carpet inside. the atmosphere was very friendly partly because fallfandave knew a lot of people and the locals seemed lovely.

the stage looked overcrowded, e. blaney was playing acoustic but could not be heard-he left the stage after 2 songs and did not return. opened with this 'shipman 'song which was a highlight. it went 'shipman...what about us'-like why did he leave us out of his plans-very much in keeping with marks slanted take on things i thought.

sound was not bad-vocals inaudible as ever. we watched the sweat moving around marks shirt-he seemed generally in good humour and was not in wind up mood to other band members. i must say spencer the drummer was very good. anyway things were plodding along ok and they played wrong place, right time.
to exit the stage they had to walk up some stairs to a plastic square dressing room(mark really struggled with his hip). the funny and very fall bit for me was that mark was singing all these encores from the dressing room and this poor hefty looking guy was having to hold the mike lead in the air which was at full stretch to reach mark and this was goin on for like 15-20 minutes. to me its these touches that mark creates that make it special.

overall a good night and it was lovely to meet other members(you know who you are) and special thanks to marc for giving us a lift. i did speak to mark early doors outside the venue and he wasnt rude he was just ok.

finally, elenies breasts have shrunk compared to that other picture of her but shes a snappy dresser and mark is very lucky.

Five encores after a bit of a wait for first one :wacko:

Though there wasn't really a gap between the later ones !!

As Fiery Jack said good to meet up before gig and during and a kiss fron fallfandave as well :ohdear: my money would have been on dave love doing that ;)

Enjoyed it more than York though :D

how many posts before chase asks for a recording???

It was fun. But bear in mind we sat in traffic for 5 hours on the M6 and we didnt get a soundcheck and couldnt hear each other.
Still nice people at the venue and a great crowd.

who knows ?

but it'll probably his first of the day :lol:

i like the fall they are my favourite band

yeah - we were in that too. it was M5-6-7 PM!

when we turned up, Mark was outside having a holsten and we could hear "open the box", but i guess you didnt get much time. were you using the house PA? it didnt look much cop to me


i got the feeling that the crowd were well up for it too.

i've only just remembered being kissed by fallfandave - how sweet! does he do that every gig, or just special occasions?

what you trying to say dude?

Well after last night I know you're definitely a ladies man ;)

that gridlock was desperate, with muggy heat adding to the frustration :I was lucky enough to escape onto the A5, but later we saw cars piling back down the approach roads :just chaos.
Set the scene for a great night - I don't mind a bit of shambolics ;)
Best song of the night for me was the second new tune, played later in the set (near 'white lightnin'?) It all seemed to come together +was real intense :something like a mix-up of 'What About Us?' & 'Mod Mock Goth'?!

Real nice to meet up with you, Jack'n'Dave; the White Hart was like an oasis after the journey. Everytime I look at the cover of 'The Real New Lp', I'll be reminded of it's rugs :P
And athlete, maf, dave :good to have frenz at the gig :)

Last line's something I was touched to read, taken from the Rock Cafe 'Fall' poster:
"Thanks For Coming!"

..a shame, because he gave some nice colour to songs in York. Makes me wonder why a song like C'n'C-s Mithering doesn't get reworked, especially with two other guitars weaving through the acoustic riff.

Yeah absolutly Mark, i've listned to the MD's of York lots of times now and Ed's accoustics really give the band some depth live, balances the bass and guitars really well. ed' plays it cock handed - upside down.

He was trying to do some fine stuff - like picking +that, but it was mostly lost. Nevermind.
My ears r still ringing from the din, and they complain to me :couldn't The Fall have played an acoustic set, even Eleni ..on xylophone?!

finally home to talk about the stourbridge gig......cant remember all the set but i think that it's already been said.... not so drunk as at york [me,not the band] but dont know how as everyone was buyin drinks and it seemed liked millions of pints of stella really....it was a real grindy bone-crushing sound in the rock cafe....like everything was on full volume....like white light/white heat.....really enjoyed it.....sneaked a tape recorder in ...and had an extension mic....but there is a little switch on the back which u turn and it is a bit stiff....but due to the dark and beer...i didnt check it was on.....and it wasnt...so i have over an hour of silence :( [your wedding photos r black :lol: ]

anyway no matter still enjoyed it....before the gig there was a bit of a meet up at the mitre... met mark [off here, not the mes one], dave love, fiery jack, athlete not cured and matthew....we had a few there.....
at the rock cafe was just in time to sit down and listen to pubic fringe...who i thought were a good band to listen to as they seemed to do songs like the sonics...thanks to richard [who is a lurker on here he sez, might post now] i got a ticket in...but u could pay on the door ...but it didnt matter.....u could probably get in for free actually by holding a plastic glass and sayin u had already been in.... :huh: ... but i wouldnt advise that sort of thing....

i decided to sit down anyway as we had been stood up in the mitre....n i am a lazy bastard.... n it turns out i was sat with the fall....ben and jim and ste trafford and spen too... they was very nice to talk to...and they even let me take a photo of each of them... so i was glad of that...was on the way to the toilet... and saw eleni...so i shook hands with her... i would have maybe chatted but i wanted the toilet...

it was great to meet all the fall fans .....met one from bolton....and he talked exactly the same as me.... so i knew it was true..... i cant beleive all the band r from salford though ..they dont sound too salford...except ben....[bury ?] oh and eleni of course...

got home ok.... walked back with matthew....

nice to meet u all...it was a good night....i prefer that loud sound.....i hope they do the next album a bit like white light /white heat.... cos it seemed to work on the shipman one they opened with especially.... seemed much crazier that way....needs it... :applaud:


midlands folk r v friendly...... with that accent too B)

And there was me saying it was a shit venue, lol. They've done it up loads since last time i went and knocked through the wall by the bar, there used to be some arches there. I thought it was 3 encores, i was so pissed. I prob lost track. Got some great photos on my camera. Will sort that out, and share a few out.
I also did an audience recording hehe. missed the other encores, got the first, i was running out of minidisc. Sound is not too bad either.
Let you know when it's done, i'll need help on the tracklistings.Will put it ona cd and get it shared, maybe a little artwork if ive got time. ;)

On the news page it mentions that the two new songs were the Shipman one; and "a disco-ey thing that went on for ages". Is this "Steve's NYC"? Or yet another new song? I heard "Steve's NYC" in York and really liked it, but can't really remember what it was like. But a third new song would be fantastic news.

The reason I ask is that it would be really promising for the future if they are introducing new songs into the set at such a rate. ;)

Yeah! Because isn't the new album due out in about 4 months?

Really! :huh: Is it out on Amazon already or something?

Still, I suppose that they've got a few songs in the bag now:

1. Shipman Song.
2. Steve's NYC.
3. Disco-ey Thing (if not the same as 2. above).
4. Walk Like A Man*.
5. Grass Grow*.

And you'll always expect them to come up with a good few tracks in the studio too. So four months isn't unreasonable! Of course, it'd be ideal if they could come up with a belter of an original single to go with the album. Preferably with a B-side that is just as good (in traditional Fall style!).

*I'd rather see these two on a single to be honest. I find myself always skipping covers when I listen to Fall albums. I've decided that this may be because I am scared I'll like them better than the Fall originals!

I didn't recognise the discoey song as 'steve's song NYC', but perhaps they were playing it with less swing than in York. I thought it was similar to 'What About Us?', with the intensity of 'modMockGoth' thrown in.
There was another tune that the band launched into, but stopped after thirty seconds to start something alot slower ..er, can't remember what. DrBuck's Letter?
plus! A sludge, slow version of 'boxtoscis' was played over the p.a. with eleni on vocals?

I'll cut and paste this from the other thread i posted it on cus im too lazy....

On the midlands=friendly side, i'd agree. We like a drink, we like a laugh. I did both at the gig. :)

Mod Mock Goth is very probably my favourite Fall song for many a year. Absolutely entrancing the whole way through. It just shows that, even after all these years, you can't beat a bit of good old repitition!

So, I'm really looking forward to hearing this new disco-ey song. Anyone else have any thoughts about it?

Also, did anyone recognise the song they aborted (see Mark's last post again)? Maybe this was 'Steve's NYC'? They might have been changing the song around a bit or something, but then decided it wasn't working. I've got no idea (as you can no doubt tell) to be honest...

[lengthy & unnecessary quote deleted]
are they no longer doing janet vs johnny, that song is so great.

Cheers Dave! Always knew you were a man of impeccable taste.... ;)

They used it as their intro tape.
Communication breakdown between soundboard +stage became immediately apparent when the song went on +on, even though the band were all onstage +ready to go
"stop the fucking tape!!" [yelled over our heads] confirmed it, and they hadn't even started playing.
But as I said before, I love a bit of shambolics B)
`
.. in fact, what am I talking about? LOOP41 HOUSTON introduced The Fall :rolleyes:

ha ha ha, too bad they arent doing Janet vs johnny though, in the us they came out to recovery kit, cause it sounded cooler.

The best I've heard is the intro to 'Live In Vienna' :a little bit romany/sinister fairground piece.

Was present in Stourbridge for the gig last Thursday. Travelled up from Winchester, met up with a mate from Stafford. Both consistent Fall fans since ?witch trials?, first gig some 24 years ago - 50 plus gigs all over the shop since then. Posted a few insignificant rants as an ad-hoc fall netter some years ago now.
Anyway - you get the picture!

?Rock Café? Stourbridge - What an excellent little venue. Rang up to book tickets the week before, they just wrote my name down & said speak to Roy when you get here! No tickets given out (got a couple later though after gig had finished) - you could walk in & outside again without any probs - the bouncers/barmaids etc were a really friendly bunch. You don?t get this down south - so

Was outside when MES rolled up around 9.45pm. Clutching a plastic bag with what I guessed contained some new lyrics. We said ?Hello Mark?, he had a grin on his face. When he got to the entrance he was re-directed round the side entrance so had to walk back again - the grin was still there.

First up were ?Pubic Fringe? - Short set of only about 30 mins but certainly worth getting to a gig early for.

Just before the Fall started, my mate (who is of the ?specky git? fraternity) commented, ?I?ve never seen so many specky tw*ts at any gig before? - looking round the few hundred punters gathered certainly confirmed this statement. But this is just one of the beauties of belonging to this dubious collective, there really is a cross section of totally different types of people who just happen to ?get? the Fall. The car park outside also highlighted this curious mix, along with the usual collection of ?sheds?, + the BMW, Audi, & Volvo brigade were all represented.


The Fall were due onstage at 1000 PM & I reckon they came on at about 9.59 PM. After some lighting/sound confusion MES entered with a leather glove on his left hand & clutching many sheets of A4.

I started to try to ?jot? down some the tracks (yeah sad man but my memory is sh*te) but gave up when didn?t recognise 2 out of first 3!

Anyway, in a sort of very rough order this is how I reckon:

What about us (not sure if this is the title but he says it a lot)
Contraflow
New one!
Green eyed loco
Boxi
Sparta
Mr Pharm
Mt Energ
Wrong place

This is when it got weird & never I?ve seen so many encores at a fall gig!
Spoilt Vic
Dr Bucks
White lightening
B. Town
F. Money
T. Sensitive

I think at least 2 of these songs weren?t actually sung by MES as he was hiding upstairs. A punter from the audience was up there (hidden) doing his karaoke ?Stars in my eyes? act - he was bloody good though as proved when MES wandered back down again & the ?MES sound alike? belted out an excellent rendition of B. town (I think).


It all finished by 1120 pm.
This wasn?t the best gig (by a long way) but no where near the worst either. Musically fuddled sums it up. MES vocals were generally good & improved as things progressed. MES seemed to really enjoy this gig - lots of smiling & some banter.

Drumming - superb. Bass - good but mixing could have been clearer. Keyboards noticeable & amateurish - but can?t say I didn?t enjoy this. Acoustic not really noticeable & only there for first 3 songs (stage was somewhat crowded). Guitars - Yeah they both seem to work well together.

So, to some it up - another unique Fall experience to bank along with many others.